movies
‘The Sheep Detectives’ Review: Hugh Jackman in Family-Friendly Mystery
The cleverest moment in The Sheep Detectives occurs before the movie even properly begins. Prior to the opening credits, the famous MGM lion makes his appearance, but instead of his usual roar he lets out a plaintive “BAA.” Unfortunately, the rest of this family-friendly murder mystery never matches that level of wit. Despite the (brief) presence of Hugh Jackman and a top-flight voice cast, the movie never achieves the level of magic for which it’s desperately straining.
Based on the 2005 bestselling German novel Three Bags Full, the film features Jackman as George, perhaps the most jacked shepherd in history, who lovingly tends to his large flock of sheep that he’s determined never to kill. He’s so fond of them, in fact, that he offers them daily readings of his favorite genre, murder mysteries, for which they sit attentively as if they understand every word.
The Sheep Detectives
The Bottom Line
Woolly-headed.
Release date: Friday, May 8
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby
Director: Kyle Balda
Screenwriter: Craig Mazin
Rated PG,
1 hour 49 minutes
This being a family film, they actually do, of course, replacing their “baas” with human speech whenever talking to themselves. And, as scripted by Craig Mazin (The Last of Us), their dialogue is both mildly amusing and intriguingly philosophical, if at times misguided. They don’t believe that sheep die, for instance, but rather that they simply become clouds.
When George shows up dead in the pasture one day, his hands mysteriously coated in blue and green dye, the sheep are naturally grief-stricken. Especially Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), whom George has described as the smartest in his flock and for whom he cared the most. Suspecting that the bumbling local policeman, Officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun, accentuating the goofiness), is wrong in his conclusion that George simply died of a heart attack, Lily rallies her fellow sheep to help solve the murder.
There is no shortage of suspects, including Rebecca (Molly Gordon), George’s daugher who has suddenly shown up after many years; Beth (Hong Chau), the local innkeeper, with whom George seems to have had a past; Caleb (Tosin Cole), the shepherd next door, for whom George bore an animosity; Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), to whose church George made a large, mysterious donation shortly before he died; and Ham (Conleth Hill), the town butcher, who’s long had his eye on George’s sheep.
Other human characters figuring in the proceedings are Elliot (Nicholas Galitzine), a news reporter who has shown up to cover the local arts festival but sticks around after George’s death; and Lydia (Emma Thompson, enjoying herself), George’s lawyer, who shows up with George’s recently revised will.
So far, so Agatha Christie, although that grande dame of whodunits stuck to human crime-solvers. She certainly never had one of her characters tell another “No eating the crime scene,” as one sheep advises here. As the intrepid animals pursue the case, gently nudging the hapless Officer Derry to follow their lead, their very disparate personalities are showcased along the way — from the soulful Mopple (Chris Dowd, whose Irish-accented voice is exactly what you’d expect a sheep to sound like) to the ever-curious Zora (Bella Ramsey) to the proudly fluffy Cloud (Regina Hall) to the rambunctious Ronnie and Reggie (both voiced by Brett Goldstein, utilizing his Ted Lasso growl) to the elder statesman (er, states-sheep?) Sir Ritchfield (Patrick Stewart, appropriately regal) to the loner ram, Sebastian (Bryan Cranston, sounding authoritative), who has a tragic backstory.
That backstory might prove disturbing for younger tykes, as will a vicious battle between Sebastian and two menacing dogs, no doubt accounting for the film’s PG rating. And despite the plethora of talent both in front of and behind the camera (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, both currently riding very high with Project Hail Mary, are among executive producers, while director Kyle Balda previously helmed Minions and Despicable Me 3), The Sheep Detectives never really gels, feeling too dark for younger kids and too silly for discerning adults.
It doesn’t help that the sheep characters, played up for maximum adorability, are portrayed via photorealistic animation that looks incredibly realistic, and yet not. Sheep are not the most expressive of animals and aren’t particularly interesting to look at. The estimable and personality-filled voice talents provide partial compensation, but much as with Disney’s “live-action” Lion King remake and countless others, the depiction of animals here feels more creepy than cute.
Jackman, who, rest assured, shows up periodically in the film even after his character is found dead, proves so charismatic that it’s easy to understand why George’s flock would devote themselves to finding his murderer. What’s less easy to understand is why the rest of us should really care.
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As Jimmy Kimmel returns to his late-night post, he’s ready to take the show across the river for Brooklyn Week once again.
On Thursday, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will head to Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House for the eighth Brooklyn Week, which will kick off next Monday with an all-star lineup.
This year’s guests for Brooklyn Week include New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Mahershala Ali, Billy Crystal, Pete Davidson, Robby Hoffman, Paul McCartney, Seth Meyers, Tom Morello, John Oliver, Bernie Sanders, Bruce Springsteen and Howard Stern, with musical guests De La Soul, Goose, TV On the Radio, and Springsteen & Tom Morello.
All five shows will tape in front of a live studio audience at BAM, to air every weeknight at 11:35pm ET on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
Jimmy Kimmel Live is produced by 12:05 AM Productions LLC, in association with Kimmelot and 20th Television. Kimmel, Erin Irwin, Molly McNearney, Jennifer Sharron and David Craig serve as executive producers, with Douglas DeLuca and Danny Ricker as co-executive producers.
Brooklyn Week comes after ABC denied “inaccurate” reports that Jimmy Kimmel Live! is ending in 2027 after 24 seasons.
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EXCLUSIVE: An end-of-week memo from Disney‘s Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer has fired a warning shot that layoffs are coming amidst a “transformation process” that includes “automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies.”
Without actually saying that AI is taking over or that job losses are on the horizon, the memo by Horacio Gutierrez strongly implies that. Sent out at noon on Sept. 18 to the LGA department, which counts less than 1,000 members globally, the missive has taken on a life of its own. It is being circulated among the Disney rank and file, with many fearing that the blunt warning to LGA staffers applies to them too as they are bracing for rounds of layoffs, expected to begin as early as next week. Unspecified cuts within the LGA department are not connected to the next round of cuts, I hear. I’m told.
The memo has also been shared throughout the entertainment law community in L.A., NYC and DC.
Noting that the Mouse House’s “legal, government relations, operations, and others, are going through their own reinvention as technology reshapes how work gets done, and the operating models that underpin those professions,” the multi-tasked Gutierrez says he’s “taking a dispassionate look at every aspect of how we do our work, so we can do it in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.”
Gutierrez joined Disney from Spotify in late 2021 under Bob Chapek‘s short-lived reign as CEO. Replacing Disney veteran Alan Braverman in the top in-house legal job, Gutierrez was one of few key Chapek lieutenants to keep his job when Bob Iger returned as CEO in late 2022.
“Obviously, this will require hard choices about where and how we deploy our resources and investments, including our staffing investments and how we work will look different in the months and years ahead,” Gutierrez writes in the memo, adding, “LGA will be a much smaller organization than it is today, and some of you will personally be affected by decisions we make in this process. As a result, we’ll have to consider a whole range of new models for different workloads, including automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies, moving to self-service models where appropriate, engaging alternative legal providers and others, and new expanded share services, even outsourcing.”
Proving once again that timing is everything in this town, Gutierrez’s memo came on the same day that Disney unveiled Karandeep Anand as the company’s very first Chief Technology Officer. The ex-Character.AI, CEO will report directly to Disney boss Josh D’Amaro. With the most recent rounds of job cuts hitting Disney in April and then July, execs made no secret on the Aug. 5 earnings call that more is to come. To that, Gutierrez email also came as the deadline was looming for qualifying longtime Disney executives to take the company’s voluntary early retirement offer, first unveiled in August by EVP and Chief People Officer Sonia Coleman. The process was always expected to be followed by involuntary layoffs.
Cutting to the chase in his September 18 memo, and invoking the name of D’Amaro, Gutierrez goes on to tell his staff that “when teams work smarter, Disney can serve more fans at lower costs, freeing up capital to reinvest in the content, guest experiences, and technology infrastructure that keep the company out in front.”
“Josh’s vision is of a Disney that succeeds in a changing market by breaking internal walls and embracing technology to amplify what makes it great, not by clinging to the way things always have been done.”
Disney would not comment on Gutierrez’s memo or on a timeline and scope of the upcoming job cuts when contacted Thursday by Deadline.
Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report
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SPOILER ALERT: This post contains details on Big Brother Season 28, Episode 39, which aired on Thursday, September 24.
Big Brother Season 28 is down to its final four, and the night will reveal the final three houseguests who can still win the whole game.
Week 11 saw an Egyptian Eviction, which saw Melody Morris fall victim and leave the game, making her the fifth jury member.
Following the special eviction, Taylor Brown became Head of Household (HOH) and put Dee Valladares and Drew Campbell up for eviction. At the Power of Veto (POV) competition, Drew won and saved himself.
The final POV had tremendous power as the holder would determine who would be evicted and who would make it to Final 3.
RELATED: ‘Big Brother: The Group Chat’ Sets Kate Lawler & GK Barry As Hosts Of ITV2’s ‘BBUK’ Companion Show
How did the Big Brother Season 28 houseguests vote in Week 11?
Dee and Devens were the two housemates on the block, but one wouldn’t survive the night.
Votes to evict Dee: Drew
Votes to evict Devens: No votes
RELATED: ‘Big Brother’ Season 28 Debuts To Series’ Best Premiere Audience In 5 Years
Who was evicted from Big Brother Season 28 in Week 11?
By a vote of 1 to 0, Dee was the housemate evicted from Big Brother Season 28 in Week 11 and became the sixth member of the jury.
RELATED: CBS’ ‘Big Brother’ Continues To Lock Up Solid Ratings As ‘Unlocked’ Spinoff Scores Big
Who are the Final 3 houseguests in Big Brother Season 28?
The final three houseguests who could potentially win Big Brother Season 28 are Taylor Brown, Drew Campbell, and Rick Devens.
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